James Franco wo n't be following Dennis Rodman into North Korea anytime soon .

Franco 's latest movie -- a comedy about two talk show hosts who are asked to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un -- has earned the distinction of a frothing rant from the regime in Pyongyang .

`` The enemies have gone beyond the tolerance limit in their despicable moves to dare hurt the dignity of the supreme leadership , '' a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman told the country 's state-run news agency Wednesday .

The film , titled `` The Interview , '' stars Franco and Seth Rogen as two lightweight talk show hosts recruited by the CIA to take out Kim . It 's not due in theaters until October , but the trailer is already drawing worldwide attention , including in the corridors of power in Pyongyang .

` Team America '

The distribution of the movie is `` the most undisguised terrorism and a war action to deprive the service personnel and people of the DPRK of their mental mainstay and bring down its social system , '' the North Korean spokesman raged , using an abbreviation of the authoritarian country 's official name , the Democratic People 's Republic of Korea .

Comedians taking shots at North Korea 's dictatorial leadership is hardly new -- it goes back at least a generation .

A decade ago , `` Team America : World Police '' used puppets to lampoon Kim 's father , Kim Jong Il , memorably featuring him singing about his loneliness at the top of the despotic state .

Kim Jong Il also popped up as a waiter in NBC 's `` Thirty Rock '' -- albeit one who claimed to be `` the greatest waiter of all time . ''

Brutal regime

The situation in North Korea is no joke . A recent United Nations commission detailed a horrifying list of crimes it says the regime has committed against its own people , including the large-scale use of prison camps and torture .

The cold-blooded brutality of the system was displayed late last year when Kim Jong Un 's uncle was purged and executed .

Meanwhile , the isolated state continues to develop its nuclear weapons program , which it has used to threaten neighboring countries and the United States .

Will Kim watch ?

But like his father , Kim Jong Un has also brought about bizarre moments in his two and a half years in power , such as his basketball-based friendship with Rodman .

Such peculiar behavior , along with the secrecy in which the regime cloaks itself , is hard for comedians to resist .

The Telegraph last week cited Kim Myong-chol , the executive director of the Centre for North Korea-U.S. Peace and a frequent visitor to Pyongyang , as suggesting that Kim would probably watch the new movie .

That prompted glee from Rogen , who also co-directed and wrote the film .

`` Apparently Kim Jong Un plans on watching #TheInterview . I hope he likes it !! '' he tweeted .

` Towering hatred '

But the North Korean government showed little sign of favor toward the film on Wednesday , accusing the United States of `` bribing a rogue movie maker '' to produce it .

And it warned that Franco and Rogen 's comedy , which it said had touched off `` the towering hatred and wrath of the service personnel and people of the DPRK , '' would have consequences .

`` Those who defamed our supreme leadership and committed the hostile acts against the DPRK can never escape the stern punishment to be meted out according to a law wherever they might be in the world , '' the foreign ministry spokesman said .

`` If the U.S. administration connives at and patronizes the screening of the film , it will invite a strong and merciless countermeasure . ''

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A new comedy starring James Franco is about a plot to assassinate Kim Jong Un

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North Korea says the movie hurts `` the dignity of the supreme leadership ''

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Distributing the film is `` the most undisguised terrorism and a war action , '' an official says

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Comedians have taken shots at the regime in the past , notably in `` Team America ''